The Criminal Defence Service (Financial Eligibility) (Amendment) Regulations 2007

Statutory Instruments

2007 No. 777

legal services commission, england and wales

The Criminal Defence Service (Financial Eligibility) (Amendment) Regulations 2007

Made

9th March 2007

Laid before Parliament

12th March 2007

Coming into force

2nd April 2007

The Lord Chancellor makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by paragraph 3B(1) of Schedule 3 to the Access to Justice Act 1999(1).

Citation, commencement, transitional provisions and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Criminal Defence Service (Financial Eligibility) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 and come into force on 2nd April 2007.

(2) An application for a representation order which is made before 2nd April 2007 is to be dealt with as if these Regulations had not been made.

(3) In these Regulations—

(a) a reference to a regulation by number is a reference to the regulation so numbered in the Criminal Defence Service (Financial Eligibility) Regulations 2006(2);

(b) a reference to the Schedule is a reference to the Schedule to those Regulations.

Amendments to the Criminal Defence Service (Financial Eligibility) Regulations 2006

2.  In regulation 9—

(a) in paragraph (2), for “£11,590” substitute “£12,007”;

(b) in paragraph (3), for “£20,740” substitute “£21,487”.

3.  In regulation 10—

(a) in paragraph (1), for “more than £11,590 and less than £20,740” substitute “more than £12,007 and less than £21,487”;

(b) in paragraph (2)(g)(i), for “£5,304” substitute “£5,463”;

(c) in paragraph (3), for “£3,156” substitute “£3,270”.

4.  In the Schedule, for “£5,304” substitute “£5,463”.

Signed by authority of the Lord Chancellor

Vera Baird

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Constitutional Affairs

9th March 2007

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Criminal Defence Service (Financial Eligibility) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/2492), which set out the criteria relating to financial eligibility which must be satisfied before individuals involved in criminal proceedings in a magistrates’ court may receive publicly funded representation. The Regulations increase the financial eligibility limits and cost of living allowance for applications for representation orders made on or after 2nd April 2007.

A regulatory impact assessment has not been prepared for this instrument as it has no impact on businesses, charities or voluntary bodies.

(1)

1999 c.22. “Regulations” is defined in section 26. The reference to the Lord Chancellor in that section was changed to the Secretary of State by the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/1887) and was changed back to the Lord Chancellor by the Transfer of Functions (Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/3429). Paragraph 3B of Schedule 3 was inserted by section 2(2) of the Criminal Defence Service Act 2006 (c.9).

(2)

S.I. 2006/2492.